Samsung Galaxy Note reviews by different companies

Design & Build

TechRadar

Just as well really, because the Galaxy Note is just that – big. Falling somewhere between the tablet and phone goalposts, it's not as enormous as pictures may imply. But it is larger than your average smartphone.

Its dimensions come in at 146.85 x 82.95 x 9.65mm yet, at 178g, it's fairly light considering how heavy it could have been. This is a trait we've come to expect with the Galaxy line with both the Samsung Galaxy S and Galaxy S2 handsets also being light as a feather.

To look at the Note, it looks just like a larger version of the S2. The front is incredibly minimalist with only a Samsung logo and homescreen button visible to the eye (the homescreen button is a little more rectangular than that of the S2, almost in an effort to make it seem less iPhone-like.)

The front facing 2MP camera and light sensor are there but almost impossible to see on the black model. The left hand side holds only a volume rocker, the top houses the 3.5mm headphone jack and there's a power/lock-unlock button on the right. The micro USB charging and syncing port can be located on the bottom.

The 8MP camera with LED flash is located in the centre of the rear portion in the same way it is on the S2 although, bizarrely, Samsung has, once again, chosen to have the actual glass covering of the lens protruding.

We can't understand why it's not recessed as this merely makes the already vulnerable camera more prone to being scratched when the Note is placed on a surface.

The speaker is located near the bottom of the rear and just above the dock for the 'S-Pen' (i.e. fancy stylus) that Samsung appears to be so excited about.

Cnet

It's also not the phone to be seen with if you want to look ultra-cool. Again, the size makes you look daft -- or even Hobbit-like -- when making or taking a call. We were frankly loathe to pull it out in public every time it rang (maybe that says more about us than the Note). It does give you the air of, say, a nomadic start-up entrepreneur when you're perched in the pub busily tapping away with the stylus on that 5.3-inch screen.

The Galaxy Note follows a standard Android phone template: front dominated by a touchscreen with three buttons located just below: a physical home key and two touch-sensitive buttons dedicated to options and taking you back a screen. There's a volume rocker on the left side of the phone and a power button on the right.



Socket-wise, there's a 3.5mm headphone jack up top. A proprietary USB port covering charging and data transfer duties is on the bottom edge, alongside the hole for stylus storage (which keeps the stylus adequately secure and snug). The front of the Note features a 2-megapixel camera and phone speaker, while the back has the main 8-megapixel camera and LED flash.

The entire back plate can be prised off with a fingernail, allowing you to get at the battery and slots for SIM and microSD cards; you'll have to remove the battery to insert or remove a microSD card, so hot-swapping is out.

T3

Dominating first impressions of the Galaxy Note’s smartphone/tablet bridging form is its monstrous and vibrant 5.3-inch 1280 x 800p HD Super AMOLED display. Offering up beautiful images and video playback on a grand scale the Note’s stunning display is a true leader of the mobile market combining crisp, rich images with a fast, responsive experience.

Despite its whopping 5.3-inch display the Galaxy Note is remarkable slim and light in the hand lining up at just 9.65mm thick and 178 grams in weight. This ultra slim, lightweight design helps make the Note manageable in a single hand although a second set of digits will be needed in order to type on the expansive display.

Stuff TV

Despite its size the Galaxy Note does feel good in the hand. The rear of the device has a textured finish that puts you in mind of a leather bound notebook. It also hides a big 2500mAh battery. It doesn't say 'phone' and it doesn't say 'tablet', but it does shout 'quality' very loudly.

PC Advisor

The Galaxy Note is an enlarged version of the Galaxy S Android smartphone it launched in mid-2010 to much acclaim. The lightweight handset with the AMOLED screen and the chutzpah to carry off a distinctively different look to most other Android phones went on to the year’s biggest seller. Only the iOS-based iPhone 4 outsold it.

It was a surprise, therefore, when Samsung designed the Galaxy S for version II and this year came out with a smartphone that was closer in appearance to other Android handsets. Fans of the original design will be pleased to see it make a reappearance in the Galaxy Note. Spying it at IFA, we were drawn to its bright and expansive screen and generous onscreen Qwerty keyboard. We’re sure we won’t be the only ones to fall under the Galaxy Note’s charms.

Phone Arena

So, um... what should we say? The Samsung Galaxy Note is one monster of a phone! It is gigantic, and it doesn't feel like anything you've used before. And if you're the type of person who'd say that the Galaxy S II is just too big, then wait until you see this guy. Don't think you'll be able to use it just like you use your typical smartphone – you can't fit the Galaxy Note comfortably in your pocket. Well, you can carry it in your pocket, but don't try to sit while it's in there. It's by no means heavy, but it is too cumbersome to handle normally. This “phone” is designed for the biggest of hands, but we don't believe that it will fit well even in such hands.

The Samsung Galaxy Note is made of plastics, but it doesn't feel cheap at all. The device is solid, and even the capacitive stylus stays very firmly in its spot, and requires a bit of force to be removed. No wiggle whatsoever.

Hemorrdroids

To look at it head on from the front, if you had no size reference, you may well mistake it for an SII, that much of the design hasn’t really changed. It still has a single physical home button, with a capacitive button either side. One thing I noticed very quickly, this home button feels slightly raised as opposed to the recessed design on the SII. This may cause some issues with the button getting pressed while in a pocket, although I’ve not noticed it happening yet myself.

Mobilechoiceuk

With the screen switched off, it looks like the Monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey – dark, tall and extremely intimidating. You’ll need BIG hands to fully grip it, but it feels nice in the hand

Display

TechRadar

The crowning glory of the Note is the screen: 5.3" of WXGA goodness (1280 x 800) and it is a belter. Samsung has always been renowned for its good screens with even the Galaxy S giving us that wow factor last year.

We were bowled over by the S2's Super AMOLED Plus but the Note just blows that out of the water. 285ppi is what it gives us and not only are colours vibrant and sharp, but it looks easily as good as anything that Apple produces with a 'retina' label, even though it's obviously a lot bigger.

Cnet

As the display is the Galaxy Note's chief selling point, we'll start here. After all, if the screen doesn't cut it, the whole shebang is a complete disaster.

At 5.3 inches in size, this screen is larger than any we've seen on a smart phone before. By comparison, the display on the Samsung Galaxy S2 is 4.3 inches in size and the iPhone 4S screen is a piffling 3.5 inches. Out of the recently-launched phones, only the HTC Sensation's 4.7-inch display comes close.

It's also insanely sharp thanks to its 1,280x800-pixel resolution, boasting 285 pixels per inch (ppi). That's not quite as crisp as the iPhone 4 and 4S's 326ppi screen, but it's not far off. Viewing the screen from a normal distance, individual pixels are barely discernible and text is beautifully clear.

The screen uses Samsung's beloved AMOLED technology too, so colours are gorgeously rich and saturated, while black areas of the screen actually look black rather than dark grey, even when you're sitting in a dark room. So videos and photos look nothing short of stunning here.

Pocket-lint

The Note has, quite simply, one of the most beautiful displays we’ve ever seen. Until we see the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 on these shores, this phablet sports the best mobile display Sammy has ever released commercially. The HD Super AMOLED technology is similar to that used on the S II but, with a WXGA 1280 x 800 resolution, it’s much clearer and well defined. It’s sharper too, with 285ppi (pixels per inch) rather than the 216ppi of its smaller smartphone stablemate.

Colours are equally as impressive; wonderfully vibrant and searing - when you up the brightness of the screen from its "out of the box" default setting, that is. But the sheer wow-factor all comes down to the resolution really. In fact, there are few peers that can hold their own in comparison. Perhaps the Retina display on the iPhone 4 or 4S, but neither offers the same real estate, and when you combine such clarity with a decent footprint, you get a device that you’d happily stare at indefinitely.

PC Advisor

The Galaxy Note has a now familiar superAMOLED screen (it's very bright and colourful) with a resolution of 1280x800 pixels. Even on fairly mundane photos such as German municipal buildings shown as demo shots on the Galaxy Note at IFA, the brightness was notable. On superior shots of landscapes and wildlife, the colours were nearly eye-popping. We’ve seen slightly tighter resolutions, but Note owners will little to complain about in the screen. Browsing through photo galleries is one of the key points from such a screen-centric device.

We were also very taken with how light the handset seemed to be: we had to double-check it weighed as much as 178g. The nearest equivalent tablets we’ve recently tried out – the 7in-screen HTC Flyer and BlackBerry Playbook - each weigh 420g. Samsung has done well to distinguish this hybrid device by managing to make it around a third the weight of these smaller tablets while sacrificing only a modest amount of screen estate.

Phone Arena

The gargantuan 5.3” display of the Galaxy Note. It is, of course, of the capacitive type and utilizes the Super AMOLED technology, which translates into rich colors, deep contrast levels wide viewing angles and... a bluish tint on top, mostly visible when displaying white. Having so much real estate however, means that screen resolution should also be abundant, in order to keep a respectful pixel density. This is one area where the Galaxy Note performs admirably, having an 800x1280 pixel res, which translates into 285 ppi. We're happy to say that everything on the screen is very clear and easily readable.

Camera

Cnet

A smart phone wouldn't be a smart phone without an 8-megapixel camera with 1,080p HD video skills these days, and that's just what you get here. But while the spec is impressive on paper -- there's autofocus and an LED flash thrown into the mix -- we weren't particularly wowed by the quality of stills and videos produced.

For the camera, the only setting of any note you can tweak is the exposure value (why not white balance too?). You can set the focus point by tapping your finger on the screen, but neither of these things are going to go far in convincing any halfway-creative photographer that this is a serious camera.

Pocket-lint

The rear-mounted camera offers 8-megapixels of snap happy fun, with an LED light tacked-on. There’s also a 2-megapixel front-facing webcam for video calls, using software like Skype. And, actually, the results from the main camera are very impressive for a mobile device - in daylight, at least.

Auto focus can take a while to adjust to the best setting (something also evidently noticeable in video capture) but the end results are colourful, yet natural. And sharp. If all of this sounds like the camera on the Samsung Galaxy S II, that’s because it’s very similar.

Slashgear

Samsung’s smartphone cameras have proved impressive recently, and the Galaxy Note is no different. Although its size means it’s bordering on the somewhat ridiculous feeling you get holding up a tablet to take photos and video, it just about escapes that fate; brave the occasional second glance, and you’re rewarded with colorful photos with plenty of detail to them. A rare sunny London day offered a chance for the Note to balance bright elements with more contrast-rich shade, though on a couple of occasions there was some odd focus hunting where the camera seemed reluctant to even try fixing on a subject.

Video, meanwhile, showed more of that jittery focus, struggling at times to handle the slow moving traffic in our sample clip below. Brighter parts of the scene suffer over-exposure, too, though when the frame is stable things are far more palatable. Audio is sensitive, perhaps too much so, but still within the bounds of acceptability. Once you’ve filmed clips, of course, you can slot them into your own mini-movies in the Galaxy Note’s video editing app.

Video playback benefits from Samsung’s usually broad range of supported codecs. The Note will handle 3GPP, H.263, H.264, MPEG4 and WMV (as well as 3GP, AAC, AAC+, AMR, AMR-NB, eAAC+, H.263, MP3 and MPEG4 audio) and then there’s the Android Market with its various third-party media player apps if that’s insufficient for you. 720p HD video in H.264, MPEG4 and WMV played back with no jerks or issues on the Note, and audio through the headphones jack was similarly strong. On resolution and scale, it’s hard to imagine a better way to consume video on your smartphone than the Note.

Phone Arena

There's an 8MP camera employed by the Samsung Galaxy Note, coupled with a single LED flash. The camera interface is the standard one for TouchWiz 4.0, which is a good thing because it works pretty fast. It also offers some nice goodies such as Anti-Shake function, different Scene modes, etc.

Video can be recorded at up to 1080p, and we've got to say that it does look pretty good. The image is rich on colors and details, although there's some distortion observed if you move the camera too quickly. If you aren't in a hurry though, you should end up with some pretty nice footage.

Tracyandmatt

The camera application on the Samsung Note is really easy to use, in the top right hand corner you have whether you want to take a picture or record a video. In the bottom right hand corner you have your quick access to your gallery. In the top left of the application you can change to the front-facing camera. Below that, you have the option to turn flash on, off or to auto. And below that you have the settings button (of which you have many!) However, what I experienced was rather slow shutter lag. With a 1.4 Ghz Dual-Core processor powering this thing, I was expecting it to have almost no shutter lag, but in fact it takes longer than my HTC Desire which is running a 1 Ghz SINGLE-Core processor. Maybe this is down to the screen size or having 3 more megapixels than my phone, who knows?

Hemorrdroids

There have been a few disagreements on whether the Galaxy Note has the same camera as the Galaxy SII. The camera in the SII certainly is a good one, the best I’ve ever reviewed. From the shots I’ve taken, it’s hard to tell as obviously the light and subject will generally be different every time. Lets have a look at similar zoomed cut outs though.

Hardware

Techradar

Under the hood, you'll find a dual-core 1.4GHz processor powering this beast and either 16GB or 32GB of internal storage (which you can also expand by another 32GB with removable memory.)

Cnet

Powered by a dual-core 1.4GHz ARM chip, the Galaxy Note certainly doesn't want for processing power. Running the benchmarking app AnTuTu revealed the phone to be a truly impressive performer in comparison to its Android-powered brethren. Its overall score put it above the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S2, Motorola Xoom and LG Optimus 2X, with its CPU speed proving the main advantage.


Pocket-lint

Under the hood, the Note features a 1.4GHz dual-core processor, which keeps things moving at pace, although, at times, you do notice the response time of the S Pen fractionally dragging its heels. We suspect that this may be a software issue, and new apps may be more responsive, but it’s something that you’ll have to get used to for the time being. Certainly the CPU can’t be at fault.

Slashgear

Inside, Samsung has opted for a 1.4GHz dual-core processor, paired with 1GB of RAM and either 16GB or 32GB of internal storage. A microSD card – under the battery cover, next to the capacious 2,500 mAh Li-Ion battery pack – can extend that by up to 32GB. Wireless connectivity includes quadband WCDMA/UMTS with support for up to 21Mbps HSPA+, quadband GSM/EDGE, WiFI a/b/g/n on the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, and Bluetooth 3.0+HS. No dedicated HDMI port, but the microUSB 2.0 port supports MHL HDMI with the correct – and not included – adapter. There’s obviously GPS, a digital compass, accelerometer, gyroscope and the proximity/light sensors, together with an FM radio with RDS that uses your wired headphones as an antenna.

Hemorrdorids

With the screen we have the first of two things that really makes this device different from the rest. It’s huge 1280 by 800 pixel screen is unmatched by any other phone and actually beats some tablets out there. At 285dpi it doesn’t have the density of the iPhone 4 (326), or even of the soon to be released Galaxy Nexus (316), but given they say the human eye can’t see any more than 300, 285 over 5.3 inches is plenty good enough!

Some people aren’t fans of Samsung Super AMOLED screens because they say text doesn’t look crisp. As you can see from these close ups, there are no problems on this screen.

Mobilechoiceuk

The Note packs a Super HD AMOLED screen and a powerful 1.4GHz dual-core processor, but it’s the S Pen and illustration software that makes it stand out from the crowd

Battery

Techradar

A 2,500mAh battery should give you plenty of juice – but considering the size of the screen, which is always the biggest drainer, it may not go as far as one hopes.

It's hard enough to match the manufacturers' estimates at the best of times because individuals have their own needs and demands placed on their devices. Perhaps tellingly, Samsung hasn't even bothered to put estimated talk and standby times on the specs page of the Note website.

Those who use this as their phone will get through juice a lot quicker than those who carry it around in a bag as a tablet and are more economical with their usage, and have fewer apps sipping away data in the background.

Cnet

The battery life isn't particularly impressive: we didn't even get 12 hours' moderate use out of a full charge. You won't want to wander too far from a power socket, which casts some doubt on the phone's claimed notepad-plus-planner-plus-phone-plus-entertainment-device-on-the-road credentials.

The processing power and large screen do contribute to one significant drawback: short battery life. As with many smart phones, you'll want to keep your charger handy if you own the Note. We got less than 12 hours of use from a full charge and moderate use -- some web browsing, a spot of gaming and general pottering about with apps and games.

While we wouldn't expect a powerful smart phone to last several days on a single charge, the speedily-depleted battery does put a dent in the Galaxy Note's ability to perform as Samsung bills it: a do-it-all smart phone and entertainment device that boosts your productivity as an old-school notepad.

Pocket-lint

The last thing worth noting is the Galaxy Note’s battery life; it’s very credible. The battery itself is of the Li-on 2,500mAh variety, and while Samsung hasn’t quoted times, we’ve had the Note being used in much the same way as a general Android device for two days before having to charge. We’d expect it to last more than that with light use. And, unlike with Apple products, should it start to wane over the years, the back comes off so you can replace it.

T3

Despite its power hungry display the Note’s larger form means a bigger battery can be slotted in with the incorporated Li-ion 2,500 mAh battery ensuring the device can surpass the essential one day power hump and continue easily through the better part of days two and three.

Slashgear

Given the processor, the size of the display and the active digitizer, we had low expectations of the Galaxy Note’s battery life. Daily charging has become de rigeur for modern smartphones, and we had visions of making it to mid-afternoon and then being forced to rejuice the Note with a sneaky top-up. Even Samsung’s predictions of up to 810 minutes of 3G talktime or 820 hours of 3G standby left us sceptical.

Phone Arena

With such a huge display, it's only natural for us to be a bit worried about the battery life of the Samsung Galaxy Note. Thankfully though, the manufacturer has managed to fit a pretty decent 2500mAh battery inside, which should be able to provide 13 hours of talk-time and about 24 days of stand-by – a remarkable achievement indeed.

Tracyandmatt

A standard battery, Li-Ion 2500 mAh is running this powerhouse of a device. This is what I believe to be the biggest battery in a phone today, but then why not put the most powerful battery in a phone in the world in the biggest screened phone in the world? And you know what? It really works! I can usually go through a whole college day which involves texting every half an hour, using LiveProfile (an instant-messaging service) every half an hour, getting an email and responding to that once every other hour, listening to music for about 2 and a half hours a day and all those other things that teenage college students do with their phones during the day. Even doing all this, I still have about 30% charge when it comes to 9:30 at night and I begin to wind down and plug my phone in to charge. It truly is outstanding considering the size and power running the display, but when you look in the battery usage settings, you can clearly see why I brag about the display so much when you see how much battery it is using. In fact below you can see how long I used it for, and how much percentage each application I used, used up.

Hemorrdroids

Battery life is always a hot topic on a new device and initially you might be thinking such a big screen will burn through battery, so it’s a good job the Galaxy Note comes with a powerful 2,500mAh battery. As you know, I prefer not to comment on battery life until a device has had 10 days to a fortnight to calibrate and condition the battery. What I will say, even after just a couple of charges, I was looking at around 24 hours use before needing to charge again.

Mobilechoiceuk

Comes with a monstrous 2,500mAh battery, about twice your average smartphone unit. You’ll get almost two days if you keep GPS and Wi-Fi light

Verdict

Techradar

There are very few things we can complain about with the Galaxy Note. Samsung has taken what is already a brilliant handset and built on it to make an even better one.

The problem is – is it a handset or is it a tablet? Will users be carrying this around as well as a phone? In our mind, forget the 'S-Pen' and just concentrate on this being a large phone and PMP and you can't go wrong. And then, the only choice you have to make is "is it too big for me?"

It is a pricey device – but you can't deny it's a premium product and that shows not only through the specs but also the build quality.

We can't see Samsung successfully creating a new product category with the Galaxy Note though - we just can't imagine that many businesspeople who hate paper and love media enough to consider carrying this around, even if it doesn't replace a smartphone.

Cnet

The huge size of the Galaxy Note is the main reason to buy it: no other smartphone has such a big, beautiful screen. However, the size also creates a number of issues, short battery life and sheer unwieldiness being chief among them.

If you can live with these drawbacks, you'll find that this is one of the most powerful Android smart phones around, tackling apps and media with aplomb.

Pocket-lint

There’s much to like about the Samsung Galaxy Note. The screen is quite simply stunning; colourful, radiant and as finely defined as the word "dictionary". It’s super quick, and Samsung’s Touchwiz UI on top of Gingerbread is a joy to use. Watching movies on the display is a great experience, and it’s, perhaps, better suited in size to economy class flights than a 10-inch tablet.

The camera is more than decent, offering both stills and video capture at high definitions. And there’s that stylus, the S Pen, which has true potential if app developers take up Samsung’s challenge.

However, there’s still the issue of what the Galaxy Note actually is, and more to the point, who it’s aimed at.

T3

Large in size, humongous in potential, the Samsung Galaxy Note might not be a first smartphone for the masses, what it is however, is a device that will enhance the experience of many a business user. The Note’s only downfall in popularity is in how much it has limited its prospective target audience.

One of the first modern mobile devices that makes a stylus not only work but further enhance the user interaction with the product, the Samsung Galaxy Note could well be the first in a new era of business minded hybrid devices with its strong all-round performances making it a must for those looking to get work done on the go.

Stuff TV

The question it poses isn't 'What is the Galaxy Note?', rather 'Who is it for?'. Smartphone buyers might be put off by the awkwardness of the extra girth, while tablet fans could find the screen too small.

What the Note offers, though, is a very lovely halfway house between the two – look at it as a tablet that can make calls and fit in your pocket, or a phone with a bigger, better screen, and it starts to make a lot more sense.

Phone Arena

Leaving the enormous screen and dimensions aside, the Samsung Galaxy Note is a pretty decent smartphone, equipped with powerful hardware, delivering zippy performance with all tasks. It's very well feature-packed, although some of its aspects haven't been executed in the best possible way. For example, call quality is very poor, while the camera is fine, but nothing industry-leading.

Tracyandmatt

All-in-all, this phone is a must buy for anyone who wants to make heads turn, anyone who wants to experience the best media phone out there or anyone who has gigantic hands. And this phone isn't for those who want portability, who want a phone you can quickly bash out a message on and then check email and then get back onto your music and it most certainly isn't for those who have freakishly small hands.

Hemorrdroids

In the few days I’ve been using it, the Note is winning me over and I may not go back to my beloved Galaxy SII. I love the amount of information that fits onto the beautiful looking screen on the Note. I’ve noticed things on the Note in some apps that I’d never seen before, just because more options naturally fit on the screen. Checking e-mails and browsing the web becomes even easier on such a great screen. The addition of the S Pen opens up opportunities for developers. If I can find a decent note taking app that lets me flip through pages, it could come in really handy at work.

The down side is quite simply it’s size. You perhaps don’t really get a feel for how huge this is until you hold it in your hand. If you’re thinking of buying the Note, I strongly recommend you try and find a High Street shop stocking it and have a play first. Although it hasn’t happened yet, I’m fairly sure I will receive a few chuckles at times and “What on earth is that!?!?!” type comments, it really is that big.